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McGrady, Rockets attempt to force Game 7 versus Jazz

Fri 2nd, May 2008

(Sports Network) - The fifth-seeded Houston Rockets will try to stave off elimination once again, as they visit the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz tonight at EnergySolutions Arena in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series.

Utah leads this best-of-seven series 3-2. If necessary, Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday at the Toyota Center.

On Tuesday, Tracy McGrady scored 29 points as the Rockets stayed alive in the postseason with a convincing 95-69 victory over Utah at the Toyota Center in Game 5 of this Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Luis Scola added 18 points and 12 rebounds in the victory, while Rafer Alston contributed 14 points and six assists. Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 10 boards in the win for the Rockets.

Carlos Boozer led Utah with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Mehmet Okur finished with 14 points and 10 boards. The Jazz were once again anemic from three-point range, going 2-for-9. In Game 4 they missed all 14 attempts from beyond the arc.

Utah point guard Deron Williams was limited to 13 points and six assists. He committed four turnovers for the Jazz, who put up their lowest point total of the series and season.

The Rockets have dropped three of their last four Game 6s in the playoffs. They have lost four of their last six contests when facing elimination from the postseason.

McGrady has not been on the winning side in an NBA playoff series (0-6) during his career.

The Jazz have lost four of six when they have the chance to eliminate their opponent from the playoffs. Utah has lost three of its last four Game 6s in the postseason.

Utah defeated the Rockets in seven games in last year's postseason. Houston won the first two games of the set, and ended up losing Game 7, 103-99, at the Toyota Center.

There is a lot more playoff history between the Jazz and Rockets. This is the seventh time in the postseason that the teams will square off.

Houston defeated Utah in the first round of the postseason in 1995 and in the 1994 West finals. The Jazz knocked out the Rockets in the opening round of 1985 and 1998 and in the 1997 conference finals.

The last time the Jazz were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs was in 2003, when they were knocked out by the Sacramento Kings in five games, 4-1.

The Rockets are trying to win their first playoff series since 1997. They defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games, 4-3, in the West semis, before losing to the Jazz in the conference finals, 4-2.

Houston is trying to win in the postseason without All-Star center Yao Ming, who last played on February 24. Yao has been sidelined with a stress fracture in his left foot and underwent surgery on the injury. Yao averaged 22.0 points and 10.8 rebounds in 55 games this season for the Rockets, and shot 50.7 percent from the floor.

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